


Occult Favorites

by sicorpi



Category: Red Velvet (K-pop Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, F/F, Gryffindor Joy, Hogwarts, Hufflepuff Seulgi, Minor SaeJoy, Minor Seulrene, Quidditch, Ravenclaw Wenrene, Slytherin Yeri, Some Abuse, featuring some NCT and TWICE members
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-09 04:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14709123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sicorpi/pseuds/sicorpi
Summary: Seulgi is Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain. Joy is Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor teams have had a nasty rivalry the past few years.Wendy is a prefect who keeps running into Head Girl and fellow Ravenclaw Irene.





	1. Background

“What ingredients are used in Polyjuice Potion?”

“Uhh… leeches, powdered bicorn horn? What else…? Some kind of fly, right? Oh god.” 

Wendy sighed. She knew her friend wasn’t putting enough effort into her academics, and the further they got into Quidditch season, the worse it got.

“Honestly, Seul. I know Quidditch is important to you, but O.W.Ls are coming up and those are just as important.” Wendy huffed.

Seulgi fidgeted and looked down. She knew Wendy was right, but at the same time she just couldn’t bring herself to care enough O.W.Ls. Everytime she thought of her future career she imagined herself as a professional Quidditch player, though she often wondered if she was good enough to play at that level. Still, the current captain of the Hufflepuff team had announced that he wanted Seulgi to succeed him, and she was determined not to disappoint anyone. Instead of studying, she spent most of her time observing players on other teams, watching professional games to pick up tricks, creating drills, and practicing weaving on her broomstick. The only things she looked forward to were Quidditch games and pumpkin juice in the morning.

“Seul, listen. There are more things in this world than Quidditch. I know it’s your favorite thing in the world, but there are other important things. Things that you have to do. What if you become a professional player then you lose an arm and can’t play anymore? What would you do? Not work at the Ministry, that’s for sure. Not at this rate.”

Seulgi frowned. She knew her best friend was right, though sometimes the Ravenclaw’s rationality irritated her. She weakly resolved to work harder on her academics, though she knew it was more likely she wouldn’t end up doing anything.

\- 

“Do you even sleep?”

“I could ask you the same question.”

Irene smiled and sat down next to her best friend who was hunched over a book at the library. 

“You should’ve been a Ravenclaw like me with the way you study.”

Joy smiled into her book. “I like to think I’m well rounded. Besides, the sorting hat knows best.”

Irene bit her bottom lip. She knew Joy’s placement in Gryffindor was extremely controversial within her pureblood and traditionally Slytherin family. Yeri, Joy’s younger sister and third-year Slytherin, had been instructed not to associate with “blood traitors” like her sister. Joy kept busy to take her mind off of her family problems, but occasionally would make a small joke to laugh the pain away.

“Oh yeah,” Joy’s eyes widened “I forgot to tell you.”

Irene raised a brow curiously.

“I made Gryffindor Quidditch captain.”

-

Irene snuggled by the common room fireplace, closing her eyes and letting the warmth embrace her. She felt pressure on the opposite side of the couch but didn’t bother to open her eyes.

“Hi Wendy.”

Wendy jumped. “How did you know it was me?”

Irene smiled, eyes still shut. “You’re the only person who smells like freshly baked muffins all the time. Sneaking into the kitchens with the elves again, are you?”

Wendy blushed. “I mean, where else could I bake? I’m a muggleborn from a family that owns a bakery, and it’s not like I can whip up Pumpkin Pasties or Treacle Tarts in a cauldron.”

“Well why don’t you bring me any?”

“I mean. I don’t know. It’s not like we’re close friends. We just happen to run into each other all the time coincidentally. Which is honestly starting to freak me out.”

Irene sighed. “That’s why. We’re always running into each other so I don’t know why you don’t just start making some for me. Just expect to see me at this point. It must be fate.”

A deeper shade of red painted itself across Wendy’s face.

“Are you blushing?” Irene chuckled.

“Your eyes are closed, how would you know that?”

Irene didn’t answer, but instead opened her eyes and sat up. “I need to go to sleep, it’s late.”


	2. New Year, New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want to say now that this is set in 1981. For reference, the Mauraders graduated from Hogwarts in 1978 and this is the year that Lily & James die, Sirius is sent to Azkaban, and Voldemort disappears (If you're not very familiar with the series.)

Wendy struggled to pull her luggage to Platform 9 ¾, having realized regrettably late that she packed far too much to possibly handle. She often wished she could practice an Extension Charm, but not only was she too young to use magic in the muggle world, the spell was illegal for personal use. She checked the time, figuring 20 minutes before departure allotted enough time for a small break.

“Need help?” 

Wendy whipped around, eyes wide.

“You sure are easily startled.”

Wendy clutched her chest and lowered her head jokingly. “You really did scare me. I was lost in thought.” She paused, “Though at this rate, I should’ve known it would be you.”

Irene let out a soft giggle. “So did you bake me anything?”

Wendy reached into her bag and produced a blueberry scone. “I mean, I didn’t make it specifically for you though, I made them for all the prefects.”

“Ah,” Irene smirked “Why didn’t you make them last year, though? When we were both prefects?”

“Last year I tried to but I forgot them at home…” Wendy recalled, only to be flustered by Irene’s subsequent laughter “wait, what do you mean when we were prefects? You’re not one this year?”

“I’m Head Girl this year,” Irene explained “so I’m technically not a prefect.”

“Oh my god. Congratulations! That’s so awesome. Am I even cool enough for you to even be seen with…?” Wendy trailed.

Irene didn’t answer, but instead winked and grabbed one of Wendy’s bags before starting towards the train. Wendy felt a little shy after being winked at, but she did her best to brush it off as quickly as possible. It was then that Wendy realized how good Irene looked in regular clothes. Her hair was tied into a messy bun and she wore light beige sweater and tight jeans. Her fists clamped around the arm sleeves into adorable sweater paws. Wendy followed, suddenly realizing that she knew almost nothing about the older girl even though they had been running into each for the past three years. Who knew she would end up talking to the Head Girl at Hogwarts, and what else did she not know about her? She found herself lagging behind at just enough distance to analyze the other’s mannerisms.

“What’s wrong?” Irene frowned, aware of Wendy’s change of behavior.

Wendy realized that she had been staring for probably an uncomfortable amount of time and snapped her head away. “I’ve just realized that it’s your last year at Hogwarts. I’ve been running into you since my third year and I don’t even know that much about you.”

Irene held open the compartment door. “Then it’s about time, isn’t it?”

-

Seulgi was disappointed but not surprised when she discovered that Wendy wasn’t waiting for her at King’s Cross Station. Seulgi had hoped to see her friend for at least a few minutes before the long trip to Hogwarts, but it seemed she would have to wait for the feast in the Great Hall instead. Wendy was a prefect now, which meant that she rode in the Prefect’s Compartment in the very front of the train. Seulgi missed the days when the two of them would ride along with some other friends, trading chocolate frogs and playing with all sorts of items purchased from Zonko’s Joke Shop. In their third year Wendy had accidentally ingested a Hiccough Sweet, the result of which was a rather uncomfortable and annoying portion of the ride for the prefect. Last year Seulgi had, fortunately, been invited to sit in a compartment with a few seventh year Quidditch teammates, which included the former captain. Seeing as they had graduated, it wasn’t clear who she’d be sitting with on the express this time, though. As if an immediate response to her question, a hand landed on her shoulder.

“Hey Seulgi.”

“Hey Saeron, ready for this season of Quidditch?”

Saeron rolled her eyes, “Is that literally all you think about?”

Seulgi rubbed her neck, embarrassed by her own predictability. She looked up towards the younger girl again, who seemed to be distracted by something behind her. Seulgi turned to look at whatever had Saeron’s attention but could only see a mother and two fellow Hogwarts students.

“Don’t look.”

“Who’s that?”

“The smaller one is Yeri. She’s a Slytherin in my year and absolutely nasty to muggleborns. She calls me all sorts of terrible names.”

Seulgi furrowed her brow “Oh. So why are you staring at her?”

“I just feel bad for her older sister, you know,” Saeron said, then lowered her voice to a whisper: “once she got sorted into Gryffindor she became an outcast and a disgrace to her family. Can you imagine being treated like that just for getting sorted into the ‘wrong’ house? Those purebloods are crazy. Must be the inbreeding.”

“The next time I send you on this train you won’t be coming back, you wicked child!” The mother hissed just loud enough for the pair to hear.

“Yeah, that’s pretty bad.” Seulgi agreed, frozen with her back to the scene.

“Let’s go before Yeri notices me and calls me a nasty ‘M’ word.” Saeron said nervously, grabbing Seulgi’s wrist and pulling her along.

-

“Can I sit here?”

Seulgi immediately recognized the girl as the mistreated older sister, causing her to feel a strange pang of irrational guilt and awkwardness. She looked at Saeron, who seemed just as surprised.

“Is there something wrong?” The girl knit her brows together in confusion.

“Not at all!” Saeron clarified, perhaps a little too quickly, “I’m Saeron and this is Seulgi.”

“Thanks. I’m Joy.”

“Nice to meet you! What year and house are you?”

“I’m a sixth year Gryffindor, you?”

“We’re both in Hufflepuff, I’m the same year as you,” Seulgi explained, “ but Saeron is a fourth year.”

“Oh, just like my lovely little sister.” Joy said sarcastically, “I hope you don’t know her.”

Saeron pursed her lips, which was all too telling. Joy sighed, “I’m sorry.”

There was an awkward pause of silence, causing the compartment to feel uncomfortable and hot. Seulgi searched her mind for literally anything to talk about, but she could only think about Quidditch.

“So, do you like Quidditch?” Seulgi blurted out before she could stop herself. Saeron shot her a nasty look, but the girl’s face lit up. Something about the girl’s smile made Seulgi feel more comfortable. This was just a normal girl in front of her and she had no reason to think otherwise.

“Of course I do! I’m a Chaser on the Gryffindor team.” 

“I recognize you now! I just made the connection. How funny is this? I’m a Beater and Seulgi is a Seeker for the Hufflepuff team.”

“That’s pretty funny,” Joy admitted, “considering that Hufflepuff and Gryffindor have had a nasty few years of rivalry. I think we can agree that we’re in a different league than the other two houses right now, though.” 

“But we all know Hufflepuff is the best.” Seulgi teased.

Joy snorted. “That’s ridiculous. Next, you’re gonna tell me you’re a fan of the Chudley Cannons.”

“What’s wrong with being a fan of the Chudley Cannons?” Seulgi asked sharply.

Joy was surprised by the reaction, but didn’t back down. “Come on, they’ve got nothing on Puddlemere United.”

“Bandwagoner.” Seulgi muttered under her breath, which did not go unheard.

“I’ll have you know I’ve supported them from when I was a child. I also don’t believe in forcing myself to root for an underdog out of pity. Did you honestly just choose the worst team on purpose?”

“Worst?! I’ll have you know my family has supported the Chudley Cannons for generations, and, by the way, we made it to the International Quidditch Tournament in 1972. Maybe we’re in a bit of a slump right now but-” 

“Will you two calm down?” Saeron snapped. “God, that escalated so quickly. No more Quidditch talk, then.”

Seulgi huffed, upset that her argument was interrupted. She crossed her arms and turned her face away from the Gryffindor, feeling personally attacked by the slander against her favorite team. The first half of the ride was awkward, but Saeron managed to keep a safe middle ground by talking about anything but Quidditch.

Seulgi soon learned that Joy was very gifted in Care of Magical Creatures and one of Professor Kettleburn’s favorites. Joy explained that despite Magizoologist being the most logical career choice for her, she was set on getting a job as an Auror because it fit her values and personal goals.

“Isn’t that scary though? With You-Know-Who being so powerful right now?” Saeron whispered.

“I have to protect my sister.” Joy said plainly. Seulgi cocked an eyebrow. “I’m scared that she’s going to become a Death Eater willingly as soon as possible. I want this all to end before she does something she regrets.”

Seulgi may not have gotten off on the right foot with Joy, but there was something so admirable about her ambitions that it caused a twinge of jealousy. Seulgi reflected on her own naivety; all she cared about was Quidditch in a world where people were being killed by dark wizards. Wendy always told her told her there were more important things in the world, but she never felt like there was anything of the sort. She felt separated from the problems of the world, living a comfortable life as a half-blood from a set of regular wizard parents. And that was her problem. She didn’t have anything to fight for. No reason not to live comfortably.

“We have to change into our robes, we’re almost there.” Saeron said, snapping Seulgi out of her thoughts.


	3. Pumpkin Juice & Paranoia

Seulgi somehow managed to sit through both the entire sorting ceremony and Dumbledore’s welcome speech without retaining any of it. She tapped her fingers on the table repeatedly, completely oblivious to the annoyed looks her tablemates shot her. She was thinking too much about what she was doing with her life, or rather, what she wasn’t doing with it. Was it so wrong that she chose to remain blissfully ignorant? She didn’t answer her own question because she knew she couldn’t be honest with herself. People were happy when they watched professional Quidditch, so it couldn’t be that selfish, could it? No, wanting to play Quidditch wasn’t the problem. The problem was that she only cared about Quidditch. And Wendy. And pumpkin juice. With that thought, Seulgi took a swig of the pumpkin juice in front of her.

“You look an alcoholic.” Wendy commented. Seulgi smiled weakly.

“Are you okay? You seem really out of it.”

Seulgi paused, unsure of whether or not it would be worth it to lie to her best friend. Wendy was concerned, but Seulgi was feeling strangely vulnerable and didn’t actually want to talk about it.

“I know you never lie to me, Seulgi. If you don’t want to talk about it it’s fine, but if you do I’m here.” 

Seulgi felt relieved by her friend’s understanding. “I had an epiphany I guess, and I’m still trying to figure out what to do about it. I regret not studying harder.” 

The prefect seemed surprised by the response, widening her eyes and dropping her jaws as she was famous for. “I never thought I’d hear you say those words, Seul. What happened?”

Seulgi shrugged, though she sort of knew the answer. “Do you think I could get a ministry job with only five O.W.L.s?”

“Depends what you want to do,” Wendy offered, “and how well you did on those. What are you interested in?”

“I’m not sure. Honestly I don’t even know what there is. I’ve never thought about it.” Seulgi admitted.

Wendy sighed. If only her friend had been able to come to this conclusion a year earlier, then it wouldn’t be so difficult to get back on track. 

“What about an Auror?”

Wendy spat out her pumpkin juice, spraying most of it directly onto Seulgi’s face and robes.

“Oh my god. Tergeo.” Wendy waved her wand over her friend apologetically as the spell worked to remove the mess.

“Seulgi, if you’re honestly serious about that you’re going to need to retake some classes this year to make up O.W.L.s while you’re taking N.E.W.T. level classes. Are you sure you’re up for that much work?”

The Hufflepuff thought for a bit before responding. “I’ll at least try.”

When she thought about it, was she being stupid? Could she honestly make up a year’s worth of work hoping it’d make any difference? She really didn’t know. Honestly, it was ridiculous that she could be so moved by a stranger’s personal story that she would even consider a career outside of professional Quidditch. She would probably regret all of this in a week, wishing to return to a mindless autopilot where she could look out the window in class and dream about flying.

“Hey Wendy,” a Ravenclaw greeted, placing her hand on Wendy’s shoulder and pulling Seulgi out of her thoughts “interesting to find you at the Hufflepuff table.”

Wendy smiled at the girl, whom Seulgi thought to be shockingly beautiful. “Ah Seulgi! This is my friend Irene. She’s a year older than us and the Head Girl this year. Isn’t that amazing? Irene, this is my best friend, Seulgi. She’s captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.” 

“Nice to meet you Seulgi.” Irene said, stretching out a hand to greet her, “How funny, my best friend is the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. I’m sorry to say I’ll have to be rooting for Gryffindor, but I do wish you the best.”

“Well I guess if it’s your best friend it can’t be helped.” Seulgi reluctantly agreed.

“Speaking of which, I’d better find her. I’ll see you around, Wendy. I just came by to say hi.”

-

“How’s the Head Girl doing?” Joy asked, still focused on the book in front of her.

“Fine so far. You?” Irene slid down next to her at the Gryffindor table as she often did, earning confused looks from first years only.

“I’m okay, I’m just… worried.” The Gryffindor said softly, moving her eyes across to the Slytherin table.

“Did they try to make you take the mark?” Irene whispered, leaning in.

“No. They can’t until I’m sixteen. Thankfully school started before my birthday, but I have no idea what I’m gonna do next summer. I’m hoping for a miracle.”

“What happens if you don’t?”

Joy snorted. “I either get beaten very, very badly and thrown out in the street to rot, or I get hit with the Imperius Curse and made to hurt everyone I care about.”

“You know I’d never let that happen to you.”

“Thanks.”

There was a long pause of silence; not marked by awkwardness, but seriousness. Joy tended to laugh about her situation, but she felt more and more helpless as time went on. Her eyes darted once again to the Slytherin table, but it seemed that her younger sister had already made her way out of the Great Hall. She bit her bottom lip, her mind assuming the worst: that her sister was harassing some poor muggleborn out in the hallways. Should she leave and go find her?

Irene knew exactly what her friend was thinking about. She caught the glance towards Yeri ‘s empty seat and made a correlation with Joy’s sudden anxiety. “Why are you worrying about what she’s doing when you can’t even see her? You don’t need to follow her around.”

“I know, I know.” Joy groaned, “I just seem to catch her harassing other students more than I’d like to.”

Irene understood, even though her personal opinion was that Joy was too paranoid about her younger sister’s activities. Seeing that Joy couldn’t stop behaving anxiously, Irene suggested that they leave. The plan was to make a round through the halls before returning to their respective common rooms, just to put Joy at ease.

This did not, however, go according to plan, as they stumbled across Professor Slughorn while making their way towards the Slytherin common room.

“Now what are you two doing all the way down here?” 

“Oh my, we were just walking around and talking and weren’t even paying attention to where we going!” Irene lied convincingly.

Slughorn smiled widely. “Ah yes, that’s understandable. I do suppose I’ll see you two at Slug Club as usual? I’m having a party on Halloween, you know.”

“Of course.” Irene replied sweetly. Joy forced herself to smile. The two turned around and made their way back, distracted by their interaction with the Professor. While they did not particularly enjoy being a part of Slug Club or having to listen to their Professor’s stories, they had both decided that the free food made the visit worth it. During parties they would generally take a male friend each to avoid any advancements, then mind their own business in the corner with a plate of food.

Irene was particularly adept at potions, which made her one of Slughorn’s favorite students. She took advantage of the situation by freely experimenting in making new potions, and was afraid that if she did not keep up the social aspect she would lose some freedom in her ventures. Joy jokingly commented on how very Slytherin it was of her, but Irene paid no mind. Joy herself had been invited because she managed to maintain excellent grades while being an incredible Quidditch player. Slughorn commented that she was one of the best Chasers he had seen in his fifty years at the school, and had been particularly intrigued when she turned down the opportunity to become a prefect. The favoritism played out nicely for Joy, since she was not very good at potions and often required a lot of practice with Irene in the Potion’s classroom.

“Astronomy Tower tomorrow?”

“Same time?”

The two nodded at each other before heading to their respective common rooms.


	4. Wicked Witch of the Northeast

A week into the new school year, Seulgi announced Quidditch tryouts to fill the openings created by the now graduated players. She specifically asked Saeron and one of the Beaters, Taeyong, to help find prospective players. The task went a little too well, as she had far more people interested than she had anticipated. Nevertheless, she knew what she was looking for when the day of tryouts arrived. Taeyong had put in a good word for his younger brother and fourth year student Mark, who apparently played Chaser almost as well as Saeron. Saeron recommended Sana, a popular upperclassman that seemed to be very athletic in general and a great all-rounder able to fill any position.

The tryouts themselves went easier than expected, as only a fraction of those who had said they were interested actually bothered to show up. Seulgi ended up choosing both Mark and Sana as Chasers, then selected a promising fifth year Chinese transfer student, Sicheng, to play Keeper due to his flexibility and speed. The other Beater, Johnny, expressed concern that Sicheng seemed too fragile, but Seulgi insisted the boy was fiercer than he appeared. 

Having successfully filled the openings on the team after a long and exhausting morning of tryouts, Saeron and Seulgi retired under a tree.

“I’d like a nice, cold butterbeer right now.” Saeron sighed, leaning back onto the tree trunk and closing her eyes.

“I bet you would, mudblood.” a snarky voice responded from behind. Saeron opened her eyes, locked them with Seulgi, then rolled them.

“Hey!” Seulgi yelled angrily at the pair of Slytherins now making their way in front of them.

“Just like a Hufflepuff to be loyal, isn’t it, Nayeon?” 

“It really is, Yeri. I wonder why it’s even a house, I mean, hard work and loyalty? Is that even worth making a house for? If Helga Hufflepuff were alive today I’m sure she’d be in St. Mungo’s.”

Yeri snickered, twirling a blonde plait with her wand.

“Can you please just leave me alone?” Saeron pleaded in annoyance.

“Listen here, mudblood. The Dark Lord will have your kind tortured and killed and he does I will laugh over the graves of-” The Slytherin was cut off by a hand clasping itself over her mouth. Another hand wrapped around her right wrist, which she had started to point, wand in hand, towards the Hufflepuffs. 

“Stop it, Yeri.” Joy warned.

Yeri violently shook off her older sister, immediately turning around and poking her wand into the Gryffindor’s neck.

“I dare you.” Joy said bravely, tipping her chin up and looking down at her sister in defiance.

Yeri scoffed, returning her wand to her sleeve. “No thanks, I have to perfect my Cruciatus Curse first.” With that, she grabbed Nayeon’s hand and took off, only looking back once to shoot a dangerous glare at her sister.

“Takes after our cousin Bellatrix.” Joy mumbled. She apologized, then disappeared into the gathering crowd without another word.

“Are you okay?” Seulgi asked, worrying the experience was traumatic.

“Oh, god.” Saeron pushed her hands up against her cheeks, “That was so cool. I think I have a crush on her.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I mean, yeah, she saved us, but she was just stopping her sister from doing something stupid.”

“Yeah, but did you see how cool she was?” Saeron asked, as if Seulgi were dumb.

“She’s on the enemy team, though! I can’t have you playing weak against our biggest rival!” 

“Is Quidditch all you care about?” Saeron was angry now. “I just got told called a mudblood twice and told You-Know-Who would torture and kill people like me in a time when this is a very real threat and you don’t think it’s okay for me to crush on the cool girl who stepped in and stopped it?”

“Look, it was good of her to do that, it was,” Seulgi threw her hands up defensively, “but you know I have a valid point.”

“Do you?” Saeron asked sharply.

“I-”

“Hmph.” Saeron stood up and stormed back to the castle. Seulgi didn’t understand why she was so mad. Wasn’t Saeron being completely irrational? How could she be crushing on someone after something like that? Seulgi didn’t know, because she didn’t have crushes.

-

“Yeah, you messed up.” Wendy slapped her palm against her forehead in embarrassment.

“You think so too?” Seulgi whined.

“Oh, Seulgi. Maybe one day you’ll understand, but you need to think from other perspectives. Do you have any idea how hard it is for muggleborns right now?”

“Not really.” Seulgi admitted. “Is it bad?”

“Yup, that’s your problem.”

Seulgi pursed her lips and looked down into her lap.

“If you’re serious about working in the ministry, or, more specifically, an Auror, you need to keep in mind that knowing what’s happening is just as important, if not more so than knowing spells. I suggest paying attention to what’s in the newspaper to start.”

The Hufflepuff took in the advice thoughtfully. Muggleborn persecution seemed like a distant concept - one she’d heard of and thought was terrible but never connected herself to. In her defense, what could she, a sixteen year old student, do about it? It wasn’t like she could go out and stop these attacks from taking place. Still, if she wanted a good career she would need to start learning about these things.

And then she had another thought. Wendy was a muggleborn. Her life didn’t seem that hard, though, but she had never asked. She would ask Wendy about her home life, but there was no such indication that they felt attacked. Surely Wendy would tell her if she felt like that, right? But if Wendy said it was hard for muggleborns, then wouldn’t that include herself?

“Wendy”

“Hmm?”

“Do you ever feel, y’know… threatened.”

“Of course.” Wendy answered simply, as it were a completely obvious fact.

Seulgi gulped. She honestly had no idea. 

“So, how has life become different? Since You-Know-Who?”

“Well,” Wendy closed her book. “I’m constantly worried for my parents, for one. I occasionally get hurled with nasty insults by pureblood supremacists, usually Slytherins of course. I’ve been threatened by a few, too.”

“Is it that bad?”

“You really have no idea, huh?” Wendy pulled a newspaper out of her bag. “Here. Start with today’s news.”

-

“Long day?”

Wendy opened her eyes slowly to a familiar figure standing between her and the fireplace.

“Hey Irene. Gosh, did I fall asleep?”

“I think so.” she giggled “It’s late, I just came from patrolling the hallways to make sure no one was breaking curfew.”

“And then you ran into me again.” Wendy yawned, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“As usual.”

Irene sat next to Wendy, reminding the latter of the last time they had sat on the couch together in front of the fireplace. Wendy suddenly blushed, remembering Irene’s comment about meeting because of fate the last time they were here.

“Blushing again?”

“W-what?”

The older girl flashed perfect teeth. “So what were you doing that has you so tired?”

“Seulgi. She’s a little out of touch with reality.”

Irene raised her eyebrows. “How so?”

“Well...” Wendy stretched her back, lifting her arms to the air and letting out an even bigger yawn than before. “She just lives a comfortable life. She’s a half-blood from a long line of wizards. She doesn’t know about the problems muggleborns face.”

Irene frowned in understanding, nodding for her to continue.

“Anyway, so all of a sudden she meets some girl on the way here who wants to be an Auror and it inspires her to pay a little more attention…” Wendy paused “but she’s just so behind now. No idea what muggleborns are going through, including me. Can you believe she’s more worried that her teammate has a crush on a Gryffindor player than the fact that that player is the one who stood up for her friend? I’ve seen that little blonde Slytherin terrorize countless kids.”

“I don’t mean to interrupt, but it was your friends who were involved in the incident with Yeri today?”

“Uhh, yeah, I think that was her name. I remember she’s a fourth year. Yeah, that was them.”

“I see.” Irene seemed lost in thought for a moment. “Anyway, please continue.”

“So anyway, she tells me the story, and I try to make her realize how ridiculous she is. Doesn’t she realize that girl who stopped what’s her name - Yeri?- is exactly the kind of hero we need here at Hogwarts? I think her problem is that she doesn’t believe she can make a difference in this world.”

“A lot of people feel like that, unfortunately.”

“I think so too. It’s sad.”

Wendy felt content that she had both someone else who could listen to and understand her - another open ear to vent to besides Seulgi. She never had anyone she could talk about Seulgi with, and sometimes you needed someone else to hear your problems. It was nice having another friend like this, even though they hadn’t known each other for long. The two sat in front of the fire in silence, soaking in each other’s company even without saying anything.


End file.
